U.S. foreign relationships continue to sour

With the election of Narendra Modi as India’s prime minister, we can add one more foreign leader that looks at the U.S. with disdain.

Modi was chief minister of the state of Gujarat when riots broke out in 2001 and more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed. Although accused of inciting the uproar, or allowing it to proceed without interference, he was cleared of involvement by the Indian Supreme Court. Nonetheless, we dissed him in 2002 by revoking his visa.

It’s been known for some time that he would sweep the world’s largest democratic election — and he won in a landslide — but our State Department has been asleep at the wheel and has never reinstated his visa. It’s embarrassing, but Obama called to invite him over anyway.

He might not oblige. Modi and Obama have little in common and a meeting would be awkward at best.

In a nutshell, Modi is the leader of the victorious Indian People’s Party. He is a right-wing conservative with strong economic growth, pro-business and red tape-cutting ambitions. He is a nationalist who makes no apologies for his country and has little sympathy for illegal immigrants (allegedly saying they can pack their bags if he’s elected). And he just blew away the liberal, pro-welfare, anemic growth, bureaucratic kings of India’s Congress Party.

See? What kind of conversation could Barack Obama have with this guy? Picture one totally silent round of golf as a photo op only. We used to have strong relations with India under the Bush administration and it looks like we’ll have to wait for Republicans to win the White House before it can happen again.

Surely Obama must be chagrinned as he adds Modi’s name to the long list of foreign leaders who think him a boob. Vladimir Putin’s elfish grin now seems permanently attached. Angela Merkel is still steaming over the revelation that our National Security Agency was spying on her.

Ditto for leaders in a dozen other countries. Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan thumbs his nose. Though we continue to bribe them with billions of dollars, Egypt’s military hates the U.S. Saudi Arabia, once a formidable ally, now openly disagrees with just about everything we do in the Middle East. China is wary of our military promiscuity. Israel simply wonders.

One might be inclined to think our president had confused participation in world climate change symposiums with robust foreign policy. His track record and that of his State Department bear weak testament to what might have been — and should have been — eight years of cementing relationships with key allies to build a more stable world.

Obama’s invitation to Modi is too little, too late and too bad: India is a nuclear power, a huge economy and the world’s largest democracy. It holds no love for China. The new government will make new military alliances and form new trading partnerships. In spite of cool diplomatic relations, U.S. corporations will go to New Delhi — and Modi can tell Obama to keep his visa.